JAMES TULSKY received the Pathfinder in Palliative Care Award from the American Cancer Society.
Tulsky is chief of Duke Palliative Care and professor of medicine and nursing at Duke University.
Presented at the Kathleen Foley Palliative Care Research Retreat, the award recognizes innovation and ingenuity in contributing to the advancement of the palliative care field. Tulsky received the award for his work on oncologist-patient communication; being an advocate for palliative and supportive care research; and his mentorship of faculty in palliative care research.
In the 1990s, Tulsky was the first to examine how residents and faculty talk to patients about resuscitative choices. His landmark study identified major deficiencies in communication and he became a leader in developing interventions to improve clinician communication skills. This led to the development of an NCI-funded online intervention which improved the oncologist’s ability to identify and respond to empathic opportunities and improved trust between clinician and patient.
He was also a member of the Institute of Medicine committee that recently authored the study on “Dying in America,” which recommended major changes to care for seriously ill patients.
